Memories Embrace
by f4Ze
Summary: Ichigo held the red ribbon gently in his hand as a breeze off the river chilled his skin. Standing on the bridge, he stared at the red silk wondering why it conjured such a nostalgic feeling. IchigoxSenna


I don't own anything. Bleach belongs to Kubo, Tite.

**Déjà Vu**

Ichigo held the red ribbon gently in his hand as a breeze off the river chilled his skin. Standing on the bridge, he stared at the red silk wondering why it conjured such a nostalgic feeling.

"Oh, Shut up. It'll be the same either way." Came an annoyed girl's voice that snapped Ichigo out of his thoughts.

"No, we can't be late!" Iterated her less than enthusiastic friend at the prospect of missing part of first block.

"Whatever, I'll pass." Was the response before she ran off ahead of her friend.

"Hey, wait up!" her friend called from behind.

As she raced ahead of her friends, it allowed Ichigo his first good look at her. She was cute, very cute. Her black hair had a violet sheen in the autumn sun and she had the most captivating and radiant eyes he had ever seen, almost the same colour as his hair. She had a slender yet fit frame, like a dancer. As quickly as Ichigo was able to take in her appearance, she raced passed him without notice of his presence.

"Oi, you. Is this your ribbon?" He turned and called to her back.

The frivolous girl ignored Ichigo's call and continued skipping across the bridge ahead of her friends.

"Oi, Satou, Manabi, is this your ribbon?"

Ichigo didn't know why he called out that particular name; it was just the first one that popped into his mind.

The girl immediately stopped skipping and slowly turned around to face Ichigo. Surprise and confusion was etched on her face when their eyes met.

"Do I know you?" the girl asked carefully.

"What? Ye… no…" Ichigo didn't know why he had begun to answer 'yes'. Something about her was just so familiar to him but he was unable to distinguish what exactly.

The girl's gaze dropped from Ichigo's eyes to his hand that held the ribbon. She slowly and cautiously walked towards Ichigo. "Where did you find this?" She questioned while picking up the ribbon.

"Just here on the bridge a moment ago."

The girl eyed Ichigo closer unable to decide what to make of him or his explanation. "How do you know my name?" she asked while playing with the ribbon in her hand.

Ichigo shrugged, "I just called the first one that came to mind without thinking," he responded flatly.

The girl continued to eye Ichigo quizzically and play with the ribbon. "Are you a stalker?" she bluntly asked after a pause.

"What! Hell No!" Ichigo yelled.

"Well then are you going to introduce yourself stalker-san?"

"Kurosaki, Ichigo." Ichigo responded a little indignantly.

"Thank you for finding my ribbon Ichigo, I'm Satou, Manabi as you already seem to know but all my friends call me Senna."

"Senna-chan, we need to hurry." The shorter of her two friends urged as they made their way closer to Ichigo and Senna.

The taller friend then leaned into the other and whispered something in her ear that caused the shorter to break out in a large grin.

"Senna-chan, we're going to go on ahead and _not_ be late for class. Don't dawdle too much or Kato-sensei will be angry again." Senna's two friends then walked off giggling to each other.

Ichigo and Senna stood on the bridge in a minor awkward silence. Well, Ichigo found the situation awkward at least. This was a girl that he somehow knew the name of while he had never met her in his life and had just found her ribbon as it floated to him on his way to school.

"So are you going to walk me to school _before_ it starts, Ichigo?"

"Aa, lets go." Ichigo responded as he started walking still lost in thought. The situation was still bugging him as he was unable to come to a reasonable conclusion. Once across the bridge and the school in sight, did Ichigo speak again, "When did you lose the ribbon?" He asked turning to where Senna was walking beside him earlier only discover her absence.

"Oi, Satou!" Ichigo called looking all around frantically.

"It's '_Sen-na_', my father is Satou." came her voice from above him.

Looking up and to his left, Ichigo saw Senna walking beside him, only on top of the chain-link fence that covered the perimeter to a construction work sight rather than on the pavement.

"Oi, get down from there, it's dangerous." Ichigo commanded.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Senna waved off Ichigo's order and continued walking along the top of the fence. "I've got good bala-AAA!"

Just at that moment, a strong gust of wind picked up causing her to fall.

"Satou!" Ichigo called while rushing to catch her.

Senna laid in Ichigo's arms, clutching his school jacket tightly. "It's Senna, I said." She whispered after length.

"Aa, just don't be so reckless next time." Ichigo said as he placed her back on her feet slowly.

As Senna got back to her feet, the bell rang signaling that homeroom was about to begin.

"We better hurry Ichigo." Senna said as she began to run ahead.

"Aa," was Ichigo's only reply as he made after her.

oOo

"Kurosaki-kun, why are you late?" questioned their homeroom teacher, Misato-sensei, as Ichigo walked in the class and took his seat by the window.

"My alarm didn't go off and my dad used all the hot water."

"Try not to let it happen again, ok?"

"Sure."

Misato-sensei resumed homeroom after Ichigo had settled in with his books.

"Psst, Ichigo, why were you late? I don't buy that alarm not working story." Rukia whispered to Ichigo.

"It was nothing important; I just got caught up on the way to school."

"A Hollow?"

"No, I just ran into someone I know on the bridge this morning." And with that, Ichigo began paying attention to Misato-sensei's lecture.

The rest of the morning went smoothly and soon lunch was upon them.

"Oi, Ichigo." Tatsuki called out across the noisy classroom.

"What is it?" he yelled back.

"Someone's here for you." Tatsuki replied at the same time Senna poked her head in the door, this time with her hair tied up with her red ribbon.

Noticing Ichigo, she waved with a giant smile plastered on her face as he made his way over to the door.

"Senna, what do you need?" Ichigo asked getting straight to the point of her visit.

"I just wanted to see what you were doing for lunch."

"I'm on my way to buy it right now."

"Good, I need to buy mine too." And with that, Senna grabbed Ichigo by the wrist and dragged him down to the cafeteria.

After getting their lunches paid for by Ichigo since Senna conveniently forgot her wallet in her classroom, she then dragged him out over the school grounds.

"What, this is it?" Ichigo asked Senna as she sat beneath the Japanese maple that had just had its leaves begin to turn.

"_This_ is my favourite tree in the whole school." Senna replied indignantly while she pulled the wrapping off her sub sandwich.

Ichigo stood drinking his juice box and watching Senna while she ate oblivious to his ogling. Finishing his drink, Ichigo took his place at her side under the tree and started to unwrap his own sandwich when he remembered he still had questions for Senna.

"When did you lose your ribbon?" he questioned out of the blue.

"Hmm… I forget."

"How can you forget? It's obviously something important to you." Ichigo snapped.

"I don't know. It doesn't matter now since I have it back." Senna responded. "How is it you knew my name without ever meeting me?" she retorted.

"That's what I want to know." Ichigo replied flatly.

"How does my ribbon find its way to a stranger that happens to know my name?" she pressed.

"I don't know." Ichigo again responded in a flat yet irritated tone, _he_ was supposed to be the one with the questions.

"How did you know it was my ribbon?"

"No clue."

"And finally, why am I having a major déjà vu right now?" Senna ended her barrage of questions.

"Huh?" Ichigo pondered over the situation and he too felt as though this or a similar conversation had occurred previously. "I don't know but I feel it too." he responded at length.

"You'll figure it all out sometime." She mocked lightly.

Ichigo let out a sigh. This was something that was going to bother him for a while.

"Don't worry, I'll help!" Senna added cheerily.

oOo

Elsewhere during the lunch break, watching Ichigo and Senna from their classroom window was Rukia, Orihime, Ishida and Chad.

"I don't like her. She has an unusual reiatsu." Rukia stated bluntly.

"I think we should try to be friends with her… Kurosaki-kun seems to like her." Orihime added forlornly.

Ishida looked at the despondent girl before carefully choosing his words. "I agree that she has a weird reiatsu but it isn't that strong nor does it feel threatening. There's no harm in trying to be friends with her." The former Quincy supposed.

"She could be suppressing it. I should report this to Soul Society." Rukia pressed.

"If she was suppressing it, you would be able to feel fluctuations in her reiatsu, but this is a static reiatsu."

"That could just mean it's dormant and close contact with Ichigo or anyone else with a large amount of reiatsu that can't control it could awaken her power and that would be dangerous when we don't know who or what she is. We should keep Ichigo away from her and I should take her back to Soul Society and have her analyzed."

"Yes, because Kurotsuchi-taicho wouldn't turn her into some lab experiment and is such an excellent practitioner of ethics." Ishida sarcastically remarked.

"Quit it." Chad interrupted "We should trust Ichigo and not judge her before we meet her."

His words were unnecessary since as soon as he finished speaking the bell rang signaling the end of lunch.

oOo

Afternoon classes went by without a hitch and soon, the day was over. Ichigo was packing up his books into his backpack when Senna walked in the classroom.

"Hi Ichigo!" she said cheerily as she walked up to him.

"Hey, are you-"

"Ichigo, are you going to introduce us to your new friend?" Rukia interrupted.

Ichigo looked at Rukia curiously before waving off her tone, "Senna, this is Rukia. That," Ichigo indicated towards the towering, muscular student with wavy hair, "is Chad. That," Ichigo signaled to the double D redhead, "is Inoue and last," Ichigo motioned to the bespectacled male still sitting at his desk, "is Ishida and I would introduce you to Tatsuki except she is at karate right now but she was the one who answered the door for you. Everyone, this is Senna."

"Pleasure to meet all of you!" Senna said with a smile and a bow.

"Nice to meet you." Chad answered with his deep sonorous voice.

"It's wonderful to meet any friend of Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime responded as enthusiastically as she could.

Ishida nodded his acknowledgement.

"Yes, a delight to meet any of Ichigo's friends." Rukia replied with an unreadable smile on her face before turning to Ichigo. "Ichigo, are you ready to go home?"

"I'm going to walk home with Senna. Could you tell Pops and Yuzu that I'll be late? Anyways, see you at home, later." Ichigo answered with a wave over his back as he, turned and walked out of the classroom with Senna in trail.

oOo

"So are you going out with Ru… what's her name?" Senna asked after taking a long sip from her strawberry milkshake while she and Ichigo sat on the patio of a bistro.

"Rukia and no, she just lives with me." Ichigo replied then took a sip from his own milkshake before continuing. "It's complicated."

Senna stirred her milkshake with her straw, "Married complicated?" she asked without meeting Ichigo's eyes.

"No! Not like that at all, she just lives at my house. She's nothing more than a friend." Ichigo elucidated.

"I was kidding Mr. Serious. Anyways, do you want to go there?" Senna pointed above Ichigo's head to the enormous Ferris wheel off in the distance.

"What?" Ichigo asked as he turned around in his chair to see what it was Senna wanted. "Why now?" he asked when he realized that it was to go to an amusement park.

"Because it looks fun." Senna said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"We have school tomorrow and homework to do." Ichigo reminded.

"Who cares, homework doesn't count for marks and I'll do fine on the tests." She waved off his lecturing, got out of her chair and made for the gate of the patio.

"Hey where are you going?" Ichigo interrogated as he got up from his own chair and made his way over to Senna.

"To the carnival, it'll be fun." She replied.

"I said we can't." Ichigo reiterated.

"So don't then. I'll go on by myself" Senna said and dashed ahead.

"Oi! Wait up!" Ichigo shouted after her and began to make chase.

He chased her through the crowded streets, just barely managing to keep her in sight as he weaved through the throng of people until she turned a corner and was out of sight.

"Senna?" He'd lost her. Ichigo frantically tried to look through the crowd to see if he could catch a glimpse of her. He forced himself to remain calm; she'd disappeared before on him so there wasn't any reason to be too alarmed.

"Boo!" Senna yelled as she covered Ichigo's eyes with her hands.

"Ah! What the Hell!" Ichigo exclaimed as his vision was lost. He felt around behind himself, capturing Senna by the waist and pulled her in close against his back.

A gasp escaped Senna's lips as she was drawn in. She was now pressed against Ichigo's back with her hands still covering his eyes feebly while her heartbeat steadily increased.

Slowly, Ichigo turned around and faced Senna. Her hands were now locked behind his head, while he held his own hands just above her hips. His gaze was drawn into her radiant, persimmon eyes as they stared into his own.

Senna was left speechless in the anticipation that gripped and pulled her deeper into the moment. Slowly, she closed her eyes and leaned forward on her tip toes.

Ichigo on the other hand, was dying from nervousness and inner conflict.

"Wh-what are you thinking, running off then surprising me like that?!" Ichigo stammered out after ducking out of Senna's locked arms while making effort to look away from her to hide his blush.

Senna frowned at Ichigo's response. Disappointed a little angered, Senna turned on heel and stormed off without giving Ichigo a response.

"Oi! Where are you going?!" Ichigo called to her back.

"To where to the Ferris wheel is." Senna replied with a bit of edge, not looking back.

"Wait up!" Ichigo said jogging to catch up to her side. "I can't just let you go off on your own."

"So your coming with me?!" Senna asked, her radiant eyes lighting up.

This felt like it was all a planned trick but Ichigo resigned himself to her will anyways. "Aa, lead on."

oOo

Senna led Ichigo to all the carnival events that were along the way to the Ferris wheel. The shooting gallery, the floating ducks, the dart game with the balloons on the wall and the bowling game with the holes; were all attempted by Ichigo, who lost at all of them. Actually, the only carnival game he was able to win was Whack-a-Mole in which he received a medium sized, stuffed, plush bunny for a prize.

Finally, they reached the Ferris wheel Senna had been dying to go on since mid afternoon.

"It's so beautiful." Senna admired, looking at the city skyline. "I live on the river front near that bridge." She pointed out the window. (the Ferris wheel I imagine has the gondolas style compartments)

"Aa, it's nice." Ichigo responded looking out the window at nothing in particular, in fact actually avoiding looking at the bridge Senna was indicating.

Senna noticed the forlorn manifestation hidden behind Ichigo's almost always present frown in his reflection off the glass. "Ne, Ichigo?" Senna asked, placing her hand on Ichigo's forearm. "What's wrong?"

Ichigo continued to stare off into nothing out the window. For some reason, the memories of the day his mother died flooded his mind. "It's nothing." He responded hollowly.

Senna could feel the insincerity in his voice but understood that Ichigo was not the type to just open up about this. "Baka, you don't need to lie." Senna said empathetically.

Ichigo turned away from the window and gazed into Senna's profound eyes, seeing the understanding in them. "Sorry."

Senna grinned as their eyes locked. "Baka, don't apologize." She said, giving his arm a light squeeze.

Ichigo couldn't help but grin too. "Aa."

oOo

After the Ferris wheel, Ichigo and Senna began to make their way home. Eventually they came to the bridge that they had met this morning and where they would have to part tonight.

They stood in an awkward silence for a while. Ichigo was unsure of what to say before they parted and Senna was in apprehensive anticipation.

Ichigo finally broke the silence, fake coughing before finally speaking. "Well, I guess I'll see you around school sometime then." He said as he placed his arm behind his head and grinned in nervousness.

"Aa…" Was all Senna could manage while she stared at the pavement and her heart pounded. "Ne, Ichigo?" she asked solemnly.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for tonight." Senna said, taking a step into Ichigo. Standing on her tippy toes, she kissed his cheek before turning on heel and running off.

Ichigo was taken completely by surprise and all he could manage to do for a response was feel his cheek where her lips had touched him and furiously blush. Regaining his senses, a grin crawled onto his face and he called out to Senna's retreating figure. "Oi, Senna!"

Senna stopped immediately but took her time turning around to face him again, embarrassed by her boldness earlier.

"Here," Ichigo said as he tossed the plush bunny he had won earlier when Senna had completely turned around to face him. "I was going to give it to my sister but she has enough already."

Senna clutched the plush to her chest as she continued to blush. Meeting Ichigo's eyes, Senna gave a small but genuine smile. "Thank you Ichigo." Senna said before turning around and continuing home.

Ichigo watched her leave this time not in a hurried dash, but an energetic, meandering skip down the path and Ichigo couldn't help but smile.

oOo

Reaching home, it was already nine o'clock. Ichigo walked in the front door to see Yuzu doing the dishes and Karin busy completing her homework.

"How was your date Ichi-ni?" Karin asked without looking up from her homework.

Yuzu dropped the dish she was currently washing and Ichigo was taken completely aback.

"Wh-what makes you think I was on a date?" Ichigo responded trying and failing not to sound obvious.

"Rukia said you were out with another girl." Karin continued, still not looking up from her homework.

"Aa… well, yeah. I… just hung out with this girl I met on the bridge this morning." Ichigo said, trying his best not to divulge any incriminating information to his sisters.

"So what's her name?" Karin continued to press.

"Satou, Manabi" Ichigo replied flatly as he gave into his siter.

"Son!" Kurosaki Ishin exclaimed as he bound into the kitchen and leapt at Ichigo.

Ichigo stopped his father's advances with a swift kick to the face that floored him. "Back off old man!"

"Ah! Masaki-chan, our son has grown up so abusive!" Ishin cried while on the floor.

"Quite old man!" Ichigo yelled as he stomped on his father. "Yuzu, I'm not hungry, I'll eat the leftovers for breakfast tomorrow." He said as he walked away from his father's crippled body and up the stairs.

Upon reaching his room, Ichigo noticed a note addressed to him on his table.

Ichigo

I've gone back to Soul Society for a while to take care of some business. I'll be back shortly, just tell Misato-sensei I've got chickenpox or something.

Rukia

Ichigo crumpled up the note and tossed it in his trash bin. Rukia often went back to Seireitei for short periods of time on business and figured this time was no different.

Ichigo set down his bag next to his desk and took out his math and English homework and set down to work. He was a diligent student, not as much as Ishida was but he did complete his homework whenever he had it. Losing marks because of laziness did not appeal to him.

Ichigo didn't finish his homework till well passed eleven o'clock. He was completely exhausted from the day's events and was dying to get to bed. Ichigo laid, staring at his ceiling for what felt like hours as the day's events with Senna played over in his mind, the most memorable being the parting kiss on the cheek he received.

oOo

"Kuchiki, Rukia of the thirteenth division reporting in from Karakura Town, taichou." Rukia said as she bowed down on her knees in front of Captain Ukitake.

"Yes Rukia-san?" Ukitake replied as he sat up in his bed. "What news do you have to report?"

"A strange new reiatsu has shown up that I am unable to identify, taichou." Rukia continued now sitting in the seiza position.

"Do you believe it to be one of Aizen's forces?"

Rukia hesitated before answering, "No but I think that she should be monitored by more than just myself, taichou."

"She?"

"The reiatsu resides in a female student, taichou"

Ukitake put his hand to his chin to signify deep thought. After a few moments pause, he responded. "I recommend you talk to Hitsugaya-taichou on this matter. He will inform and direct you on how to proceed on this matter."

"Thank you taichou."

A/N: Thank you to anyone that reviews. I tried to make Ichigo and Senna as in character as possible. Towards the end, Senna may have appeared OOC but it's difficult when neither character has been in such a situation previously, atleast that I can recall. I know Rukia is somewhat OOC too but I hope to fix that later on in the story with only minor lapses.

The story itself I know does not acurately follow the Bleach timeline and in my defence I claim artistic freedom. Just for reference if any of you continue to read this story or care at all, it takes place just after the SS arc with differences being that Rukia has come back to the Living World sooner and that Shinji has not yet arrived. I do hope however to have my story follow the main plot of Bleach as it continues.

Don't expect me to make regular updates on this story. I have university and other commitments that come before this. I will try to make time whenever I can just don't expect anything too frequent.


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